Star Swashbucklers-The Wild Star Warriors
by Ecaroh914
Summary: Apparently, it was a nice day...until Kirby got in supreme trouble, getting bested by his worse enemy. Who's going to help and stride to the source and take care of this problem, which is dark matter? Well, why don't we just observe and sit tight for the five answers?
1. Words of Remembrance

** Hellooo~ **

** For those who remember the story "The adventure of Waddle Dawdle", then you must know that this story is just a mere redo, nothing special. For those who DON't know about the old story, then skip ahead of this seemingly useless message.**

** Now, for those who saw the first story: remember when I was exhilarated to type in the first page, the title, the characters? Remember when I introduced everybody all OOC? All random and stupid?**

** Please, accept my apology.**

**Now, we must acknowledge the present, and forget the past (I would *gladly* do that). For instance, Dawdle used to be the image of bipolar and stupid. Now, he should make more sense. And remember those stupid "Author's Comment" sections with freaking OOC commentary? Pfft.**

** So now, I'm turning over a new leaf. Turning on the light bulb. Making a new thing. Yes, this is...**

** Waddle Dawdle.**

* * *

When I first came to Popstar, I was simply amazed. I thought I would NEVER get the hang of every location on the planet, let alone Dreamland. But as the years went on by, I realized that I was wrong. True, I _kinda_ had a little help when getting about, but still, getting to know the place was easier than I thought, and I loved every part of it.

Even after 20 years, I still love it.

The birds, the landscape, the occasional beanbon and such.

The food, the flowers, the technology, the abundance in population and serene peace, the fantastic places found here.

Surely, hearing this kingdom as a peaceful kingdom, you think of butterflies, birds, bees, tranquil rivers, and clear skies, as well as a nice meadow of flowers and fields of wheat.

Nope.

Rather, Dreamland has been attacked repetitively over my lifespan, with constant assailants of different creatures, be it an alien from another dimension, or a magician made out of yarn from another world. So, no, it's not all too peaceful here...but, nonetheless, one can still find happiness here...literally around a corner...of a continent.

But one thing that makes me ever so proud of this land is a certain someone...

He may be one of the most docile creatures I may have known...as well as the weakest creature I may have known; in fact, this species of creatures show absolutely little to no sign of machinating any schemes within their minute brains (except for that one time when they starved nearly to death...).

However, he wasn't...the same as everyone else; he had his own way of doing everything he was told to do, he strayed away from the daily patrols, and-shame of it all-he was shorter than his own species, the waddle dee.

Did this stop him from making me happy for him on his journey? No. Did this matter when he actually made so many risks in his life to become a legend (sort of) and have his own epic? Not at all. "Ye old dun one..." might I even add in from the said epic...

He had help, yes-the best team anyone could ever ask for, along with mysterious powers-like his activated gene, absorbosine. Heck, he traveled to another galaxy nobody even heard of-not even I! He defeated dark matter-but at the same time...

Instead of giving you whatever happened in a nutshell, why don't I let you observe this journey in their eyes...the heroes of Dreamland...but really, the main hero himself who deemed himself worthy of praise from all around. He's gentle, kind, and...a bit short-tempered.

This is the story of Waddle Dawdle, or, if you want to be formal, Waddle Dawdle Aspen Long...

...Methinks this tale might as well take awhile to finish.

* * *

**So, that's a start...frequent breaks...**

**I'm sorry for the HUGE hold up, but...yeah, stuff in my life...I do stuff...and I've been drawing, designing a game, etc., etc.**

**...And reading a dictionary...and perfecting the characters...and the actual plot. in fact...**

**I promise that this will be different. Sure, there will be similarities, such as Solena being a princess...but a much more nicer princess, not...that...just...no. No. Also, I will be drawing the comic out...like now, on a website. If you have any questions, feel free to either review or PM. And yes, I believe there are some errors here in this chappy, but eh, it's a start to a story: rickety and wobbly, but you'll get used to it. So yeah...Oh, and if you want nonsense, then...ehhhh, I really don't know, okay? So for now, see ya!**

**Also, dun is a word and a color...but absorbosine isn't. Huh. Haha.**

**'Kay.**


	2. Chapter 1-1

**Hello again.**

**I see you've been waiting.**

**...Okay, so I'm late again, but hey, better late than never.**

**I got done making that there game I was talking about. If anyone wants to try it, PM me, or wait for a bit of time...again.**

* * *

Dawn.

Such a beautiful time of the day, where you can see almost all the creatures in the land stirring to grab the first minute of light. A time when one could see the dew condensed on the many blades of emerald and chartreuse grass. Such a fine time for when the impurities of night are finally washing away. A time for many people to cherish and wake up and start yet another full day of either work or play, a time for night-dwellers to take a break, a time for somebody to wake up and get on with the rest of their life.

King Dedede, however, hated it.

No, he wasn't necessarily a downer; he loved to wake up...just not at the crack of dawn. Even after twenty years, he never was a morning person. Fifteen years ago, he would've been napping like a penguin hatchling in the fluffiest down if he didn't sign that darn paper. Yes, after so long, he finally learned to actually be a _king,_ not some completely...big-bone, blather-mouthed, overly bossy penguin who proclaimed himself to be king. He had to sign it, as the Pengi have unexpectedly, and somehow, moved over to Dreamland's coast (he thinks they did this on purpose). What's more, some beings from the Popopo Islands who call themselves "Oohroos" have also moved next to Dreamland, moving right in to the king's personal escape route, Nature Notch, which was an escape route for generations upon generations, in case there would actually be an emergency. Yes, thanks to these species-as well as a few other populations- Dedede had to sign that there agreement that EVERY DAWN, some of their troops _had _to patrol their borders.

Like this dawn. Dedede gritted his teeth in agitation as he thought of this while walking down the hall, his short aged feathers ruffling slightly with the pulses of his nerves passing through his body. Why, oh great Kabu, why did this have to happen? He'd feel so tired after waking up, he'd want to lay back down, but after organizing his troops, he'd be too active to even close his eyes! He felt like expressing this fully...without the hammer for once. He turned his head to his left. "Esca-oh...wait..." Ah, yes, _that._

No matter what, he will never forget that very day when his snail buddy passed on and...just died. That was only ten years ago, but still...it affected him deeply. It was actually a noble death, as Escargoon had pushed him out of the way of a deathly attack from a Pengi group, coming in to try to force their way to get even more land over. He had called for Kirby to come then, but he didn't come fast enough, as Dedede had already saw his purple companion frozen solid. Even after thawing out fully, he found out that Escargoon had already died of hypothermia. Right after this, Dedede _demanded_ that he'd like to see the Pengi leader-and immediately got to suing him.

But now that fiasco has been adverted, and Dedede is now trying to grow accustomed to a _new_ sidekick-one that was annoyingly nice. As anyone could easily imagine, the said sidekick is just a female waddle dee with bright blue eyes. However, she was...different: she always wore a pale violet scarf whenever he sees her, her skin has a slightly yellowish tint to it, she has messy, jet black hair, and a little pink bonnet. She completes herself with a pair of blue-lavender shoes of an interesting design. He's always thought of her to be weird...and to not exactly be a waddle dee. She seemed very different. Still, he was practically begging for a new companion-and beggers can't be choosers, as he had seen. "Um...Diana!" he quickly corrected with a sputter. He simply couldn't stand to even temporarily call her Escargoon. She just...wasn't a snail.

"Yes, your highness?" she replied soothingly, as if she never heard a single mistake of her liege. Admittedly, she also showed a sign of fatigue, but was much more better of a morning person than the pale blue penguin. Her scarf moved every time she spoke a word.

"Do you like the morning time at all?" Dedede questioned her. He wanted to know if there was anybody else here who disliked anything he disliked.

She pondered this for a little bit, her eyes closed in pondering and a stub to her nonexistant nose in in deep thought. "Well..." she began. "I can't say I like it...or hate it, actually. I would rather prefer waking up later, but if you think about it...without morning, there would be no breakfasts, no early songs from the birds, no wishes to go back to bed, less time in the day, and, worst of all, we wouldn't have our first light. I'm sorry your majesty, but simply, I can't agree with you on that," she finished.

Dedede thoughtfully took this all in to his (half-working) brain in consideration. After such a long pause, he finally responded back to her. "That actually made a lot more sense than I thought, actually. Thank you Diana." Yes, he calmly took somebody else's opinion without actually scowling or anything, really. Hey, twenty years can change a lot of things...especially of you've been gettin your tushed kicked in over and over by a small, marshmallow-like round...thing...which, to the humility of it all, is pink. Bubblegum pink, to be exact.

"Your welcome, your highness." Diana replied.

* * *

Even after such a long time of living with these waddle dees, he still is baffled by the sheer numbers of these creatures, as there was only, like, about a thousand of them in one of the freshly built assembly rooms (the one he is currently in) mostly standing there, awaiting orders.

This was only an estimated eighth of them. "Oh goodness," Dedede mumbled to himself. He still does not really know if there's any other female in the crowd to explain how did any of this work, but he really didn't care, as he made them all expand his castle greatly, both for supplying all pf his troops and servants, and for intimidation. After all, had these new people not move to his country fifteen years ago, or next to it, then he would've had no choice but to discard some of his little dees.

Alright, so now it's duty time..."Atten-TION!" he shouted with a stomp of his heavy foot (inside of some differently designed shoes from his usual corn colored shoes). Right away, almost every dee turned to his direction, silent and attentive. Almost.

One small dee was stuck in the crowd, so short you'd mistake him for a child-which he was. But...other dees his age were taller, their mask-like beige faces bigger than his, along with their mahogany bodies bigger and more packed than his. Thanks to this, it wasn't like he COULD see anything, as he would literally have to clamber over the countless shuffling bodies just to see the aged beak of their leader open and close with every word (like now). Sighting his leader, he duly stiffened his body above the others-only to find out that Dedede was just now finishing up. "...Then the last party will patrol within Wispy's Woods-both to investigate an odd smoggish kind of smoke and to check if those Oohroos have been staying strictly in their territory. Patrols, report to your dismissal areas in this room! No slackers..." finished the somewhat burned-out penguin.

Quickly, the small dee scattered with the rest of the dees, most of which were nonchalantly walking out into the many halls of Castle Dedede, looking for something more to do. This dee, on the other hand, was again ready to go on dawn patrol, and possibly get at least another hour's rest. He quickly looked around, but to no prevail; almost all the groups right now seemed to be crowded up with the usual five waddle dees (and doos). Suddenly, a tap on his shoulder reasured him of anotyher group-one that he'd usually join in these patrols. He swiftly turned around to see the friendly face of Bandanna Dee, as he gestured to Dawdle's usual group: a yellow female waddle doo (who constantly flirted with him, despite being eleven), a grumpy looking waddle dee holding a coffee cup filled with dark coffee (the mug simply was engraved with an "I hate women"), and another waddle dee who was constantly happy-to the point of just being annoying. With an invisible smile, Bandanna walked the short dee to the patrol group, simply happy that the group was still here and normal. Dawdle only sighed a comfortable sigh. A sigh that metaphorically dislodges your larynx and massages your lungs, lifting all the weight off your shoulders, fitting in like a tome to a bookcase.

He felt like this might be one heck of a morning.

* * *

A walk in the forest is pleasant. Unless you so happen to run into _him._

Yep, that's right: unless you so happen to encounter that gum colored stomach, the so-called hero of Dreamland, Kirby. The killer. Ew.

Okay, so he may deserve the title of "hero", as he has saved Dreamland on so many occasions. For instance, that one ridiculous crisis of a yarn wizard-guy coming around, making everything into a knitted mess. Just...wow.

Still, he's accounted for as a "killer" in the waddle dee's eyes, as there's no telling how many did he so happen to devour over the years, which was a reason as to WHY did they have to reproduce so much. Speaking of the pink prick, he was just standing there staring at the patrol, who were just standing in the best battle stance possible: Bandanna with his spear, the mug waddle dee just...sipping out the joe, the cheerful dee crouching in fear, and the yellow doo...just hiding behind the smallest waddle dee. "...So..." began the flamingo colored gourmet, using his newly acquired speech. "Are you all going to loosen up?"

"Loosen up?" Bandanna started. He glanced from side to side, to see his group doing anything but prepare. "...Fine..." he said after hesitation. "But what are you doing here, pink one?"

"Well, I came here to investigate what's all of that pollution that's been coming along this forest. You?"

"Same. I can't say we've been getting very far, however," stated the bandanna donned veteran. Suddenly, a horrid thought came along his mind. "Do you think that..._they _are back?" he asked with caution on every word. It's been a while, but as a resident of a land of constant trouble and irony, it could happen.

"Dark Matter? Pfft, we took care of that already, silly!" scoffed Kirby, who had been the actual hero to take out his prime arch-nemesis multiple times-each with a little bit of help..._just a little._

Just as Bandanna was about to protest with doubt, the group heard a sound rustling from some nearby bushes, followed by an angry muttering of words, most likely in mere frustration. The muttering, however, sounded like a disphony of scrambled voices, all struggling to be quiet...which caused the patrol to step back a few paces. The only one who didn't move was Kirby, thinking it was his hamster friend, Rick, trying to surprise him.

Suddenly, a dark shadow sprung out of the bushes.

* * *

**Wooo, cliffhanger...or something.**

**I KNOW: I'm sorry, but I reallyam kinda slow to updating everything, okay? I'll try to get to updating even more...if I can.**

**In the meantime, we all should know what's coming up next...**


	3. Chapter 1-2

**Ah, yes, as I recall, I left you on a little (obvious) cliffhanger.**

**Let's just get started, shall we?**

* * *

If there's any new thing that Kirby learned throughout the years, it was to think fast...which was exactly what he was doing at the moment. Quickly, he swallowed a bomb fuse that was stowed away somehow thanks to a friendly Poppy Brother Junior, and, within an ethereal flash of light, transformed into the festive but dangerous Bomb Kirby. Hurriedly, he materialized a black bomb out of thin air, or just brought it up from a pouched area on him (one of his mysteries), and chucked the black explosive at whatever was coming at him. The explosive actually made it's mark and exploded...only to reveal a charred log. "Ninjas..." he murmured to himself, furrowing his brow down to his nearly nonexistent nose.

Suddenly, a swift, small shadow darted straight into our pink hero's face, causing him to fly back onto a ground. He sat back up to see at his attacker, to see a small, black, amorphous bug of some sorts...An ant? A beetle? No...perhaps it's a spider. Well, it had a spherical look to it anyways...which was something familiar to it. Suddenly, it opened it's white eyes, and lurched for the rounded hero. Thinking swiftly, Kirby hurled yet another bomb at the anarchic arachnid, causing a small, but fiery, blast of desolation, charring the black bug for good. "That was a bit more easy than I expected," Kirby mumbled.

It was then that a slash was heard right behind his back. Turning around, Kirby only saw another one of those spider-like things, only getting minced by Bandanna Dee's spearhead, then getting abruptly impaled. "Haven't you actually seen that this is all _too_ easy?" asked Bandanna Dee. Indeed, this was all getting to be a bit more easy than thought. "Don't you think that, knowing Dreamland, this is all a trap?"

"True," Kirby responded. "But who would even-"

_**CRACK!**_

Before he even had enough time to finish his statement, a large rock snapped Bandanna Dee's spear in two, leaving him with two pieces only. "Everyone! We're under attack! Standing your ground, and prepare to fight!"

As if on cue, even more darker shadow creatures jumped from the bushes, all hissing, snarling, and screaming. One type looked familiar, as it had cat-like ears, a spherical body, and blank (but still angry), beady eyes, along with white shoes and a grayish tone to their body. The rest of the now-assumed squadron was just a cacophony of dead colors and eyes. Some had sharp teeth baring, whereas others were just a chaotic mix of beastly features, far too stupid for anyone to fully grasp (in Kirby's eyes, anyways).

However, at the same exact time, our pink hero, along with Bandanna Dee and his troops, were already getting the gist of it all. Instantaneously, they all leapt for the whole group of troops, with a bomb in stub, broken spear parts, sharp stones, basic energy, and mugs respectively.

This was a moment of truth. A moment of battle! This was their hope of being victorious!

* * *

Instead, they found themselves to be in dark cages in a dark environment. A small cave to be exact; they could hear the water dripping somewhere or even some entity either snoring or moaning, other than the original patrol...and Kirby himself. "Where...are we?" asked one of the troops, most likely the female doo by the sounds of it.

Nobody answered, as they were all knocked out by the fight. However, one thing was piercing the darkness was, in no doubt, sunlight. With just the small smidgen of light, the patrol and puff managed to make out the small rocks and formations...and figured that they were in a cave. However...

The group also saw that the smallest waddle dee there had a very fragile cage. "Ooh, hey! Dawdle! Waddle Dawdle! Shorty! (I'm not sure if I'm doing this right) Dude! Hey!" If anything expanded with Kirby's appetite after these years, it was his lexicon...a very strict but still childish one at that.

The small dee, whose name was indeed Waddle Dawdle, or Dawdle for short, turned slowly to Kirby. He spoke for the first time that morning, with his X-marked cheeks moistened slightly by tears. "What do YOU want?" he whispered.

"Hey, I have quite the plan for us to break out, but we all depend on one guy to make it happen..." Kirby started. "You." Seeing the young one perk up, he added on. "Yeah, 'cause those weird creatures seemed to have really take you for some push-over, and your cage is very fragile...especially the bottom. I want you to do something to make the bottom collapse so you can get out of here and get Dedede and some others to help us out! It won't be easy to run...so stay on your toes!"

With hesitation, Dawdle stood up-the cage was big enough for him to move about and jump around-and simply did what he was told; he jumped, stomped, and stepped with all his weight down on the cage's bottom-the entire thing was wooden-and heard a splintering noise. Another one after even more moving. The group only gasped and tried not to cheer (except for the mug-armed dee) as Dawdle grew in more confidence. At last, with the last stomp, the whole bottom-as well as a bit more of the cage's bars-splintered open. The whole party cheered for him (the mug-holding dee only raised his mug) and were urging him to go on to the next step of the plan. "Good, good! Now run Dawdle! Run now!" Bandanna shouted. Immediately, Dawdle ran away as fast as he could, running from the cave and into the open world, running from the patrolling things (which tried to chop him while he was passing), and running to the direction of God-knows-where. He doesn't care, just as long as he got to Castle Dedede.

* * *

Along the way, while running in an open field, Dawdle managed to trip on a little something. Right there, just on his face, somehow getting his duty shoes dirtied up. He looked back and saw a small orb, ruby red to be exact. Strangely, it was glowing a rich crimson, and in looked as though it was dropped instead. Being the one to never say no to jewels and pretties, he walked over and, seeing that nobody was looking for it, snatched it up quickly. He then continued his run...

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, peoples...I'm so sorry.**

** Hey, do you know about the comic for this story? I'll give the link out to those who are curious...**

** Over and out!**


	4. Chapter1-3 Dreamland's Awareness

**Okay then…**

** So my absence is to be noted, but please…I ask you to bear with me…as hard times have come about and will continue to spear me until I finally give in and simply grow exhausted/frustrated/etc…**

** But I have been planning! My absence was not a bad thing all the way! However, I ask for you to do nothing more than forgive my absence and please take this revival.**

** Okay then.**

* * *

Beyond all the things that had come upon the kingdom…

From alien invasions to (near) civil wars and uprisings. From dimensional traveling invaders to a giant comet intent on blasting through Popstar. From kidnappings to whiney chicks and angry birds…this had to be that one challenge that Dedede had to considered ultimately frustrating and difficult…

That task was to decide which "corset" must he put on today (he preferred to call it a corset, as he really did not care too much about fashion). "Diana, which one looks better," the penguin asked his ruby clad advisor. "The good ol' red-and-yellow zigzag? Or the new red-and-yellow stripes?"

Diana-who was rather perturbed to be in the same room with the king while he was changing to the point that she was turned around-slowly faced what would forever be described as an optical armageddon layered in feathers. It pains her that she's the female having to comment on an actual male…after a considerable thought of the birds and the bees. With such an amount of bile piling up in her throat, she thought fast. "The zigzag seems to be more classical and fitting, good king." After half-rasping, half-squeaking this statement, she immediately turned around. Of all the places, why did Dedede even ask her to come into the Grand Dressing Room? (Yes, this room had every hint of elegance and kingliness and what not.)

A slightly bewildered Dedede just stood there and stared at the rather disturbed doctor. With a shrug, he turned right back around and stared at his reflection. Not too much has really changed about him in these years that just came and went; sure, he lost an affordable bit of weight (he nodded at his slightly more beefy body complexion he gained), and his dark cobalt eyes became gentle (and tired), but still kept their sense of authority. He will only note his worthy king hat, with the polished golden rim and the bulged oval on the front of this rim. Nothing really changed about his crimson hat…other than the fact that it really was looking like a knit cap, and the cotton pom-pom was replaced with a flared up ball of angora fluff. But what he mostly liked about his newer appearance was his revamped shoes, which were simply upgraded with sleek grey soles, and his beak, which had streaks of orange on the sides.

However, his ogling was soon interrupted by a knock on his dressing room door…

Actually, no. It was more like somebody trying to bash the door until it splintered in their hands.

Suddenly, the door practically flew open, and a rather _small _figure dashed in. Before he had time to recognize the figure, the tiny thing clumsily tripped and rolled right into his belly, softly ricocheting. It was then that the big penguin saw who this klutz was: one of his more notable dees, Dawdle. How did he know it was him? Because of those cheeks, that's how. "Ohoho…it's just you…" Dedede chuckled. "What brings you here into my dressing room?" he continued with a deadlier tone.

Suddenly, Dawdle jolted up, giving in a salute. "M-my apologies, sir!" he piped up with the dignity equal to that of a rather dedicated soldier. "But I came to warn you of an emergency!"

"The kingdom's complaining of the new tax raises?"

"No…"

Silence.

"Actually, an old foe just came about, there on over in Whispy's Woods!"

"Why does it always start there…" murmured the increasingly annoyed penguin.

"I suggest that we start attacking them at this very instant! They may be pressing onwards with the deadly macabre of chaos! We may need a fan-type squadron, along with a centurion of spear wielders and another wave of sword wielders. Of course, a B-type squadron could really come in handy, but those types of wielders are too slow, so maybe the archers—"

"Okay, okay, okay…"interrupted Dedede. Quite frankly, though these suggestions are nice, he needed to stop the young dee before he ran out of breath. "First off…what are we up against? The Oohroos, the Pengi, the Poppies…what is it?" He tensed, hoping it wasn't the Oohroos. He'd spent a week washing his robes from the past scuffle before they were flinging so much of God-knows-what at his little army. He shuddered at the thought of even seeing their disgruntled faces again…

"No, no, no, no, no! It's worse than any of those combined! Though flying, exploding, frozen stuff would be an issue…" Dawdle piped up. He tried to brave up, but found himself trembling to even say the words. He swallowed hard as he uttered out words that would seem unholy ."Great King," he began.

"Zero and his army of Dark Matter have returned."

* * *

Of all the things.

Of all the insulting things.

Just how does this even work? How?

Dawdle walked into his personal bricked room and spat out the cherry lollipop that Dedede stuffed in his mouth after breaking into hysterics (the action was questionable, as dees are almost always thought to have no mouth at first glance). Just how could one treat this as a joke? After harshly shutting the door behind him, he only sighed. His deep crimson eyes looked up as if he were hoping for a sign, but alas, he knew what he saw…and heard; he still doesn't get why he wasn't taken so seriously and suspended to his quarters for "ragging out" on the team. He was to stay there until his team came back…which was most likely never.

With a sigh, he did the one thing that he just so preferred to do when he was absolute frustrated (and when all of his materials just seemed to bore him). He hesitated for a minute.

And jabbed forward a stub.

And another.

And another.

And finished it with a stronger, jerky punch, satisfying the completion.

Yes. He was merely punching at air. He was throwing his stubs forward at an imaginary enemy. An activity he merely described as "training". Just like he was flowing out his energy to the air, throwing all of his stress away, successfully defeating a whole fleet of enemies and—

"Dawdle?"

…And somehow getting caught by someone. With a jump, he abruptly stopped, from both surprise and embarrassment. Slowly, since his back was turned to the door, he turned around to see his intruder…and that intruder was none other than the mysterious waddle dee—as well as his closest friend—Diana. After taking that fact into consideration, he calmed down to some degree, but uncomfortably scuttled over to his bed—which was also included within this room. He could never understand why the king had separated him from all the other dees. "You didn't see anything, did you?" he timidly asked after making his embarrassing scuttle up his bed.

A glint of a smile flashed in Diana's eyes. "You're my best friend, Dawdle. Even if I saw something, I wouldn't tell anybody anything. You promised to keep _my _ secret as well, remember?" Each sentence came out with a soothing tone of wisdom, and upon the last word, she silently slipped off her scarf—and revealed a something that no other dee would really have.

It was an indentation in her face, a little chasm, rimmed with two small lips of carnation pink. It shaped itself into a concave semicircle, rounded downward, revealing two rows of pearly teeth, forming a sweet smile that brightened her face up even more. Some dees refer to this trait as exotic or outlandish. Some would say it's a new thing. But many would scowl upon this and call it a disgusting menace to society (whatever that means). Yes. Diana, as a waddle dee, had herself a completely visible mouth.

And only she and Dawdle had this knowledge.

* * *

Beyond all the embarrassing things that he has went through in his life, Kirby believed this would have to top it.

Said embarrassing thing was hanging in a cage ten feet in the air hanging from a contraption of sorts, right above a pool of frigid water, and he was being dunked in it over and over again. By a grunt of his worst enemy, Zero of Dark Matter. The grunt's name? It has no name. It's just an N-Z, a grey, rounded being with emotionless black dots for eyes, white shoes, and pointed cat-like ears. What's worse is that it didn't even talk—it only shook it's head in disgust to the pink hero.

The pink hero couldn't possibly think that, beyond reason, this is what Zero, leader of all that is dark and negative, had wanted to do in the first place. This kind of action would be expected from his age-old rival, King Dedede. Honestly. Between gasps of shock and chokes of water, the bubblegum gut carefully asked with gurgles in his throat, "is this what Zero had really wanted?" Of course, he was dunked yet again, only to be lifted yet again into the cold shock of air rushing onto his body from the speed of the rise. "Did he really just decide to amuse himself by dunking me in this?!" he gurgled.

Silence.

The N-Z hesitated.

Normally, he'd expect such a thing to never speak, but instead, to continue it's duty. However, the hesitance made it otherwise. "Master Zero…" began the gloomy sphere. "Master Zero wants for you to die, of course," it dully said with an uncaring voice as dead as the very speaker's skin color. "Master Zero wants for you to die in a slow way. Master Zero wants for you to feel the agony he's been feeling for years thanks to you.

"I choose not to question his motives as to what shall he do, but it is my duty to fulfill his wishes, as is for all of the generals he generated. He wants revenge. He wants success. He wants to kill you, and complete his goal…the very goal that all us servants would want as well…" The voice trailed. It seemed to be thinking about it's words carefully, as if there were some secrets it were hiding. Secrets that could change everything if they were carelessly told to even the most trusted source.

Secrets that Kirby wished to know.

Of course, Kirby knew about Zero's hive minded goal of domination, but there was something else that added on to that. Something odd. Something that not even Meta-Knight—the only person in the whole kingdom (or on Popstar) who seemed to have a fully functional brain seemingly knowing all—would be able to straight-forwardly explain in such a sense that wouldn't involve mouth foam. He would only say that they had grown in power…but even Zero would fall to Kirby at his full potential…unless…

"Tell me," Kirby urged. "I know what's really happened. Where did you all get that power? It's highly unusual that you and that"—Kirby had to think for a blunt word—"gang of yours to even get me near a cage. Zero never had that power…"

"I haven't the slightest idea of whatever you're talking about," the N-Z said stoically. "And even if I do, I have strict orders as of now to never—"

"So you _do _know!" interrupted a very clever Kirby. "Tell me, then, what happened? I know this power isn't the usual power found in Dreamland, or from Ripple Star, or better yet, not even from one of Nova's Seven Stars!" All of those energy sources were very powerful, but not nearly enough to counter Kirby. Besides, these sources were far too positive for Zero to even dare to look at. "What happened, and where did he get it?" he growled with every bit of malice you could possibly find in that pure heart of his. Perhaps he could scare the answer right out of the thing…

"Not telling," the N-Z replied back coolly, as if it never even heard the tiny bit of snarl in that question. Right after that, Kirby was immediately dunked in again, with the sound of the N-Z operating a crank of some sort.

Scaring wasn't going to work…

But now, it didn't matter too much. Now he had all the information he needed (as well as a throat full of water). Granted, it was very vague information, but just enough for investigation and possible questioning. It just had to work…

But the real question remained…how can he break out of this miniature prison cage?

* * *

** Hahaha, the N-Z has to do his duty…Ha.**

** But for now, thank you so much for being patient with me…it's all I'm honestly asking for from fans…**

** So, don't quit out on me, 'cause I'll be back…Woooo…**

** Also, I really don't know what is it that Dedede wears under that robe…trousers? Shorts? Invisible pants? Help me out here…**


	5. Chapter 1-4 Awkward Timing There

**Fwoosh, people.**

* * *

Dawdle sighed a weary sigh as he lied down on his back on his bed. After sharing his emotions with Diana, he still felt as though he should do something.

He sat up. He placed a stub on his cheek and leaned on it. He wanted to do something, but has absolutely no motivation to actually do so. Seriously, after getting bummed out, he had no more real reason to do anything...he doesn't even have his "brother" to talk to, who may be Bandanna Dee. He was kidnapped! Why, if he had his way, then Dawdle would-

Wait.

A sound.

It sounded far off. Like a muffled boom. A sound that was a "_pmfff_". Like some fireworks trapped in a box.

It sounded like it came from outside.

Outside of his window.

As Dawdle jolted upwards, he went to the only opening to the outside known as "The World" to him. The window wasn't really designed for him at all to even easily stand up and look out of...so he instead had to jump up and literally climb up the ledge to even get a peek from the stony sill. What he saw made his ruby eyes widen.

And shine apparently.

No, he did not widen his eyes in astonishment. Not in amazement. Not in awe, inspiration (or perspiration), or in any form of positivity or neutrality whatsoever. It was more like...

Horror.

Sheer horror, and for a very good reason. A burning, bright reason, at that.

The atmosphere was apparently lit up in a bright orange, the clouds completely gone and possibly disintegrated (so he assumed), and what he heard may have had such a blast radius that even various flora had taken n such force and began to sway. But that wasn't what had really caught his attention-because stuff like this almost always happens in Dreamland (it's that time of year, anyways). No, the real threat that stabbed his heart with cold fear was an apparent burning..._thing _coming out of the sky, blasting at such a high speed that anything in it's way could most likely "explode" on impact-and the thing would keep on going.

Absolutely terrified of this possibility, he tried to stay absolutely calm. _It's not coming for me, _he thought to himself. _It's merely just going o plummet into the earth, making a crater. It's nothing. _He tried to come to this realization, but each time he'd try to reassure himself, he'd look back at the unidentified object, slowly growing in his own paranoia. After a final look, however, considering the angle and trajectory with impeccable eyesight and precise calculations, he realized, with a shock...

That the projectile was headed straight for him.

His eyes practically popped out of their sockets and widened to the point that his whites were exposed. Why did he have to make that calculation? He immediately jumped off the windowsill and tried to run-but his darn waddle dee feet got in the way, causing him to trip. Major mistake if you're running from your death. And to top it all off, he wasn't wearing his more comfortable shoes to help with anything-just his socks. Embarrassing.  
Simply embarrassing.  
He turned around to look at the inevitable-which was a mere stone's throw away...then, in less than a second, blasted into his window, and straight into him.

The last thing he remembered was a stinging sensation on his face.

* * *

Consequences. Everybody knew about them. You can say they're the "reactions to your actions". Some are good and some are bad.

For Kirby, the bad side of the consequences seem to come about to him. And of course, this was more of vengeance than just a consequence.

Poor little meatball was soaking wet and starting to turn blue when he fainted from the drenching process. Now, he was literally being dragged around on cold stone by a couple of strange, fuzzy creatures. They looked savage, with four thin legs, each tipped off with a pearly, think spike. Their faces belonged to that of a nightmare.

But Kirby could not really feel them dragging him along the cold, lithic floor. He was knocked out cold.

That doesn't mean he couldn't keep a sane mind as to what was to happen to him.

He was still thinking...

* * *

After a solid knock from a burning object coming in at a speed of God-knows-what, you'd expect for Dawdle to either disintegrate, or, most likely, legitimately explode. But he didn't do either of those. Because he's Waddle Dawdle A. Long, of course. However, that doesn't mean he wasn't hurt. Or knocked back.  
In fact, he woke up from his temporary state of unconsciousness in pain, groggy. He then saw-and felt-something very different. Different...and somewhat frightening.

Before him appeared to be some sort of being. An ethereal ghost look-alike of some sorts with a tail and torso exactly like so (was that a round-ish feather he saw at the end of it?). After that detail, the ghostly features stopped, giving way to...something hardly describable. The being's chest (he identified it as a chest, anyways) was a bit sloped and ridged, and it's "arms" were merely wings with odd fingers-five of them-rubbing it's round head in possible pain. The creature was entirely orange with a slight ethereal glow-and a golden crown lying on the floor might actually belong to it, signifying it might be an important figure.

Still, even with all these features, Dawdle could not identify it as friendly or fiendish. And the strange sensation on his face felt...well, strange. Whatever this may be, he slowly began to back away to the door out of his room. But, just as stubborn his luck may be, the creature suddenly shook it's head and looked around the room.

It's bright orange eyes fell on Dawdle.

For a minute there, he thought that he was actually going to constipate in fear, but such actions would embarrass him to no ends. Instead, he stared for a very brief moment, contemplating how slow time seemed to go by in that heartbeat of a lifetime.

Then he did the legitimate option of the situation.

He ran over to the nearest throwable object (which just so happened to be a mat) and hurled it over at the unidentified creature.

Oh, for sure, this wasn't a very good idea, but, unfortunately, he had nothing to do.

So he continued for the door, but because panic settled in him, he had to do something about the beast, or else...something horrible would happen...though in all thorough sense of logic, he didn't even know if the beast had some disturbing intention to eat him or not. But fearing the worst, he only screamed in panic and threw even more objects at it-which were including paintbrushes, a pillow, a small lamp, one of his beige shoes (which made him a bit happy), a loose brick, and a plethora of more things not even _he _could identify. Finally...

"Okay, that is _enough!_"

The voice belonged to that of the beast, so it sounded. Dawdle couldn't even assume that it wouldn't even talk. No. Just no. Because it seems that anything with an eye or mouth in the galaxy could talk. Still, that frightened him even more. "I have no idea what are you and what your intentions are, but stay back!" He really doesn't handle these kind of situations well.

"Look, I'm not here to do anything!" the creature said in a female voice, dodging even more irrelevant objects of indiscrimination. "I just so happened to come here in need of help!" A table, a chess piece..."I have no intentions on hurting you in any shape, way or form unless provided necessary!" A chair, yet _another _table..."Now if you could please calm do—"

A bed suddenly was thrown to her, smashing her with an audible _smack!_

It actually looked like it hurt by the way they both hit the wall, the bed flopping over and what not. Still, the being wasn't splattered all over the wall. In fact, it looked even more aggressive after its brief recovery. "Okay." It rose off of the wall, glowing with it's anger-narrowed eyes. "Now you've asked for it," it began as it rose and flew towards a squealing Dawdle. He tried to run, but the beast caught him and held him tight. "Now I'm going to do something else that you really wouldn't expect...something incredulously horrid!" He squirmed and tried his hardest to break free, but all efforts proved futile. Suddenly, he felt a prick-ish and sharp (and fast) poke in the back of his head. It hurt, yes, but in truth...he felt much more better after that.

It felt like a bird's peck.

Quietly, he was placed down unto the floor, feeling a bit perturbed as to what happened. Still, he was calm enough to observe the new creature.

It's body was indeed entirely orange and it did glow, and it's rounded head appeared full on hair, messy and free of anything—with enough kinks to take on a craggish look. And with enough observance, Dawdle carefully pinpointed a very hard small extrusion on its innocent face. "Allow me to introduce myself before anything else may get started."

The creature (clearly a young female of her species) said her name was Solena Helilyre (with enough pride to compete with Dedede's own), and tried to explain her hierarchy, but, unfortunately, Dawdle didn't care too much (he rudely interrupted her). Still, she explained her reason for coming to Popstar (she actually didn't even know if that was even the name of the planet). She came looking for help for her home planet, Stasol. Dawdle introduced himself, and explained Dreamland's own predicament. "Well, that a bit bad," was all she could say. "I was hoping to find some help..." She pondered around for a moment, thinking of what to do.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, as if some great inspiration had struck upon her. "I know! Why don't _you _help me out here?" Dawdle was shocked.

"Me? Help you? We just met!" He really was feigning the behaviour. He really wanted to help, of course, but she couldn't know that.

"C'mon, you gotta help me! There's nobody else who even _looks _as resourceful as you!" She turned her head to the side. "Actually, there's nobody of your species that looks _anything _like you. You look different..."

Panicked, he immediately jolted up and went over to his (shattered) mirror to quickly look at his face. X-marked cheek marks. Check. Ruby colored eyes. Check. Visible mouth and an angular face? That was never there. "Whoa..." He was caught in his emotions. He didn't want to call it gross or scream, but he didn't want to place it as "awesome" either. He simply stood there, slowly touching what he assumed to be his mouth. "Well, I'll be..."

But he really didn't want to continue observing. He wanted to go. Get out. Get some fresh air. Something. He still was miffed about getting laughed at. "Solena?" He turned around just in time to see her put on her crown as a scrunchie, curling up what appeared to be a ponytail.

"So you actually want to go? " she asked, as if she was reading his mind. "Because I already had a plan."

He couldn't help but smile. Still, something he needed to do...and say. "Listen, I really want to help and all...but don't you think we need some help? I'm not even armed myself"

With a grin, she addressed the second problem: she quickly chucked up an item wrapped in cloth, with a handle sticking right out. Dawdle hesitantly unwrapped the package of some kind...to reveal a very short and stout..."sword". And heavy, apparently. Heck, one side was shattered, leaving three points sticking right out. The handle was of a silvery wood with a glossy finish, adorned with a single red jewel. "That there is a sacred sword of my people, known to us as the Sealing Blade. It will be _incredibly _useful. Don't. Lose. It. I swear, I will eat you if you do." Dawdle only saluted with a grunt. "And as for the help...well, where should we go?"

Dawdle had to think for a minute. Dedede was still being a skeptic, Sir Meta Knight would most certainly not believe him and would most likely be doing something really...knightly. His fellow comrades would laugh...his usual crew was captured. And Kirby was already kidnapped to begin with. So he came up with the most legitimate option available.

"Let's go wander blindly to the nearby forest and find some help!" Okay, now he was being sarcastic.

Unfortunately, Solena fell for it. "Why, that's a wonderful idea! In fact, why haven't I thought of it?" Yep, she's fell into it hard. "Come. We haven't much time! We start as soon as you hit the ground! " With that, she flew straight out of his window without a second thought.

Dawdle was now instantly regretting that. Why the window? Did the door make too much sense? Well...of course, it really did, and they could both be questioned furiously if they were caught.

...Silence.

With a sigh, the little slightly-transformed dee jumped to the windowsill, and after finding a little foothold on the castle side, he began his climbing descent.

He predicted that today was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Alright, I know that this might seem rush-moor'd, but hey, I am NOT spending even more time with this. And apparently, I can't do too much about blocky paragraphs. Sorry.**

**But I just wanna say happy (belated) new year! Now excuse me while I spazz out from exams.**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Topsoil? You know what to do. **


	6. Chapter 1-5 Meeting Daoh

**Heyo, everyone. I have some news to share.**

**As soon as this chapter is up, I will begin on Kirby's side of the story.**

**Because why would I call this a Kirby story without the living stomach walking around?**

**This should really concern my friend, Nashew (check out his stuff), who, if he wishes, may draw up the comic in the best way he wants. If he wants to talk with me about it, he may feel free to, and we could still work together on the pages. Nothing fancy, but just enough to get…compatible.**

**Also, I played Kirby Triple Deluxe, and GOSH, IT WAS AWESOME.**

**Now I got put in the "landmark". :\**

* * *

When Dawdle jumped out, he just so happened to fall on his head, with his entire head—or body, since that was all that he was—stuck in the ground. After pulling himself out, he spotted Solena absent-mindedly floating right there, staring off into the distance. He only walked to her side, and pointed towards a swath of green—as well as trees and a notable wisp of smoke. "That's Whispy's Woods, or Whispy's Forest, as you may like to call it. That's the forest I'm talking about. It's grown a lot in biodiversity and plant matter, with the population of wildlife coinciding with the talking trees and somehow explosion-loving natives."

No response.

"I'm sorry, I stopped listening when you said 'biodiversity'," said the stellar princess, earning a double facestub from the little waddle dee. She stared around in awkwardness until her eyes came along a small, suspicious hut (which looked really suspicious, by the way). With the flashing signs saying "this is a secret base" and "there's a thing going on here", people would naturally ignore it due to the fact that it was so obvious.

"Why don't we go to that hut over there?" she suddenly asked. Without even waiting for an answer, she flew on over to it.

"But...but the forest..." Dawdle stammered. With a grunt, he began to follow her. Suddenly, he realized that he had on no shoes. Only his socks. With a thought, he reasoned that Solena must've taken them as a sort of revenge for going ballistic on her. With that, and a scream of "GIVE ME BACK MY SHOES!", he began to run after the ethereal child, blushing furiously.

* * *

Going into the hut was an easy thing. Coming out was rather interesting.

This was rather debatable for Dawdle as he carried a waddle doo on his back...or what he'd like to call his back anyways. The hut was smoldering in flames, billowing smoke from a conflagration of sorts. This was thanks to Dawdle. "I still don't even know how did I do any of that..." he murmured.

"Get over it," Solena said in response. She was rather unsettled by the results as well, but still happy enough to simply escape the fumes. Dawdle just wanted to die for the doo was too heavy for him.

Speaking of the doo, which was sleeping, it was quite an unusual one to actually see; what with a dead brown colored skin and white shoes with a simple blue thunderbolt pattern, he looked like a normal, but deadbeat, waddle doo. What seemed different was his strands of hair—or at least, that's what Dawdle wanted to say to describe them. The doo's right-hand hair strands were awfully thick, and the tip was tinged an electric blue. His other clutter of strands was rather questionable, as it was the same color entirely, shaped like a stereotypical lightning bolt, bobbing with each step Dawdle took. The doo's eye was closed, with a thick, black outline. His back had a yellow lightningbolt tattoo.

It was then that Dawdle couldn't take it anymore. He dropped the doo on the ground with so much recklessness, its a wonder that it was still unconscious. Dawdle decided that in order to bring efficiency to this travel, everyone was going to have to move one way or another. He shook the doo awake vigorously, awakening it with a start. It wasn't the polite thing to do, but Dawdle wasn't going to go around carrying a waddle doo all the journey! "Whoa, hey, I'm awake!" it shouted, with a voice that interpreted its gender as a grumpy male doo.

After a quick recovery (and a harsh dispute), Dawdle briefly introduced himself to the doo, who, in turn, introduced himself as Daoh. "It's all that I can remember, actually. Just Daoh." Solena attempted to introduce herself, also trying to mention her role as heir to yet another ethereal race in another galaxy and her backstory, but she was immediately interrupted before she even got the chance ("Okay, yep. Solena. Got it. Shut up."). It was evident that the two didn't even care.

"So, if I may ask, what are you two doing all the way out here?" Daoh asked. "Lemme guess: you're going off to the forest for some huge quest, right?" The two only looked in surprise as Daoh only shrugged. His bright cyan eye glimmered. "I dunno. I mean, unless you're going to investigate that smog coming from there, there's not too much of a reason to go to the forest anymore...unless you're going to relax or something."

Dawdle was still pretty surprised, but he managed to reflect the same question back to Daoh. However, all he got was a nonchalant shrug. "So, you're also a doo that wanders around aimlessly and carelessly? Well...I'm not too surprised..." Dawdle said. "But we really do have to go along to the forest. Right, Solena?"

"Yeah!" cried the sun child with a slight chime in her voice. This raised Dawdle's eyebrows (if he really had any to begin with). She thought for a minute, then suggested an idea. "How about...if Daoh can come along with us?"

"Well," began Dawdle. "He could—"

"Actually," interrupted Daoh, with an obnoxious demeanor. "I guess I can stick around with you guys for a little while. You might need it." He pretty much sounded like a jerk, but, hey, he could argue that nobody was perfect.

Dawdle only paused in response, before actually saying something. "Okay, fine. We can take you into our quest, but you're gonna have to be responsible for your own actions. Kapeesh?" The only answer he got was an "eh".

It was then that Solena decided to fly in a paraloop, chirping up some notes happily, before finally stopping. "Good! The more the merrier!" she shouted. With that, she grabbed the both of them by their backs, and started for the forest...while dragging the two behind her excitedly. Dawdle and Daoh both sigh in unison as they realized that this simple walk in the park was going to be a long and strenuous one.

* * *

**I'm so sorry that this chapter is notably shorter than the rest of the chapters, but I wanted to leave that experience up to the reader to imagine. It'll be amusing to see what anyone could easily come up with. Also, next up, I shall really provide a nice read for everyone to actually experience, and it'll be piece by wonderful piece. **

**In the meantime, the comic is really coming along slowly...with two hours per page? I need to get better, peoples...**

**With that, fwoosh.**


	7. Chapter 1-6 A Green Start

**And so, we really start our adventure! To the cliche start of greenery!**

* * *

_The forest has really grown in diversity,_ Dawdle continued to think as he stared at the winding trees and new plants. Strangler figs, young palmettos, flying buttresses...he never remembered this kind of stuff. Maybe Whispy wanted to increase the "family". A couple of butterflies landed on Dawdle, completely calmed by his aura of peace and clarity.

Speaking of butterflies, there were many different insects within the air, some were big, and some were the usual size expected. But, mysteriously, there were no other animals. "This is getting weird..."

"Yeah. No animals at all," Daoh stated. "Not even the fabled Rick...or Coo..." Maybe they were in another forest, but he knew they visited this forest often. Suddenly, he sensed even more movement. He closed his single eye, and faced forward...right at a bundle of tall grass.

Dawdle looked confused at Daoh's sudden actions. What was he doing? Maybe he fell asleep. A little shake could wake him up...

Before Dawdle even had a chance to touch him, Daoh suddenly pulled out a wooden staff of pure mahogany, with both ends capped off with pure steel. With another burst of surprise, Daoh rushed to the tall grass with an explosive burst of electricity—which caught Dawdle by surprise yet again—and immediately whacked the ground, causing another small burst. This burst created enough force to blast out five entities into the air, all of which Daoh _ungodly sped to at practically lightning speed._ This, along with a shield of electricity, fried the beings to a charred grey, and even caused one to explode (which was beyond unnecessary ).

Dawdle's new mouth comically slammed the ground in utter "shock".

Solena's face practically froze in "shock".

There were four entities left on the ground, two of which were N-Z's, and two others...looked like small but cute mages... with really big witch hats. Shame they were fried. "Daoh, that was cold. Really cool, but kinda mean."

"They were planning an ambush," he coolly responded. "Had I not did a thing, we could've been hurt." This was all true. "Speaking of an ambush..." He immediately backhanded a troop of Dark Matter—one that looked like the ones from the earlier ambush—knocking it to the ground. It imploded right after hitting the ground. "We need to get ready for this!"

Dawdle and Solena got the message, and as Solena spread out her wings and Dawdle held the Sealing Blade in his stubby hands, even more troops—far more terrifying than he remembered in numbers—appeared from the surrounding greenery, and showed absolutely no regrets as they closed in rapidly. This seemed all too familiar to Dawdle.

* * *

Two figures, a round, spiky figure with arms, and the other seeming more plant-like, both moved through the shrubbery. They traveled fast to wherever they seemed to sense disturbance. Nobody could easily detect them, and nobody could easily fight them.

A sound.

A sound that caught the pair's attention. The sound of a battle, with the sound of metal clanging fiercely, and cries of agony and pain. This encouraged the pair to traverse even faster, towards the source of the noise.

* * *

"Okay guys," began Dawdle. "I think we bit off more than we can chew...or...something." He said this as a behemoth of some sort of heavy wood came into sight. It was...really just that, with a single eye peering from the wood flesh, burning red. Its two feet shuddered as it moved forward to the mini-party. It was silently dragging two heavy stones with the chains attached to its sides. It looked like the inevitable...

Suddenly, a blue ball knocked into the monster's face. Hard. It knock into it straight on... with the velocity of a bullet.

Even Dawdle flinched from that, though it didn't even touch him.

The huge monster was greatly surprised, but it wasn't knocked down to it's back. With that said, a _yellow beanbon with bright red shoes _came from the trees at a blinding speed, and proceeded to kick the beast in the face... or at least, left what was then remaining.

The monster fell over and crumbled harshly into a pile of wood and stone as a blob of dark matter evaporated from it. Dawdle, Daoh, and Solena only watched in awe as the two figures hi-fived eachother. The beanbon had his own floating hands...of metal...with a spike on each one...and a classic warning colored wrist in each. They just looked far too heavy to even float.

Baffling.

The stactus, of course, was blue. That sadistic kind of blue that you would never want to exactly notice, but it was too vibrant to even be called a baby blue or a deep tone of thought. There were marking on the stactus, like some "tears", but they didn't look too important.

Because who the heck cares about a stactus and it's looks.

Dawdle did. Because he noticed that the stactus' fleshy spikes curved all the way back, like he was rushed all his life. Dawdle had never seen anything like it. He felt like there was no other creature out there that had such a unique look in the universe. He felt like...this was literally one in a _billion _or something. Nothing had this sort of head shape. _Nothing_.

But as he nudged to move, Solena decided to finally take initiative. "May I ask who might you two brave individuals be? That was an outstanding performance with excellent coordination and sync! Why, I'd even—"

"Shaq," blurted out the blue stactus. He had the ultimate look of impatience and discontinuity in his face. And annoyance. And imprudence.

And consideration of time and gush.

"My name's Brassbreaker! But please, call me Brass!" the yellow beanbon followed up. He looked far more kinder; if anything, he looked far less smarter. "And thanks, we were working on that one a couple of weeks ago! You should've seen me, doing all that stuff you just saw, like just _'whoosshhh' _and all that! I was like _'bang' _and 'ahahaha, you thought you could get out of the way, huh?' Then the fists were flying! And the rocks were, like, _'BOOSHHHSHSHH' _and Shaq was all like—"

"Brass," interrupted Shaq.

"What?"

"Stop it." Shaq then crossed his arms. "Anyways, he's trying to say 'hi'. But we don't really know who are you, so it is _very _awkward to even talk to you, even if you're trusted enough not to do anything...irrational." He finished this while glancing over to Daoh. This made Daoh's indifferent eyelid slide down to an expression of annoyance. Sure, Waddle doos were more aggressive than they needed to be, but there was no need to say this or to even hint at this aspect. "What are your names?" Shaq questioned.

"I'm Waddle Dawdle! But just call me Dawdle!" Never before had he heard so much laughter. "I know it's a funny name, but 'Shaq" kinda sounds like 'Shack', and Brass is just a metal, y'know."

"Daoh," came an irritable response from the blue-eyed doo.

"And my name," Solena began. This is her chance. "Is Princess Solena Helilyre! Heir to the—"

"Stop it," interrupted Shaq. The other sighed in relief. Her life sounded too boring to hear. She only frowned in despondence. "Okay, "Dawdle", we know what brings you to this forest here. Because of the fact that there's pollution and evil here, and you, as a different waddle dee, want to make a difference to your species, and save the forest."

"Actually, no," answered the dee. "I'm here for her." He pointed to Solena, who waved her wing awkwardly. "But I'll use that as an excuse!"

"Yeah, now we should be going now, Dawdle. C'mon, let's just leave..." Daoh slowly began dragging Dawdle to the opposite direction of the two other persons.

"Hey, maybe we can—"

"No Dawdle."

"But the—"

"No."

"They just saved—"

"_No._"

"Maybe—"

"Actually, yeah!" interjected Brass, who seemed eager to do the upcoming idea. "We'll team up like robot-zombie-space-weasel-pirates riding dragon-dino-sharks through _Subspace!_"

"_Oh my great bloody eyeball, NO_—"

* * *

"Yes," Solena said. "Yes, I am in control. Yes I did just see and do that."

The forest was in flames, and even though she did her part to burn another one of the troops, what she failed to actually do was remember that the entire forest was flammable. "No, that wasn't intentional. So shut up." Sparkies were jumping about everywhere, screaming in pain as their entire bodies were coated in scorching embers. Twizzies, Bronto Burts, and other confused birds flew out of the pulsing conflagration. Even a Bobo, literally a _ball of fire with feet_, ran in sheer terror of the horrible irony of karma as it half-screamed, half-blubbered at the complete DE-edification of it's fiery life.

Just let that soak in. Because Dawdle is trying to let that soak in.

Speaking of soaking, Shaq, the only one who seriously looked emotionless, sprayed out water straight from his hands into the fires. Even though the flames billowed high, his water seemed to be putting it out at an extremely fast pace. It was a bit unnerving to see, but it worked. "Solena, please tell me this is your first time doing this in a forest environment," Shaq began. "Because if it is, I won't yell at you, and I will try to tone down my scolding."

"_Our _scolding," chimed in Dawdle.

"Right. Our scolding." Even if this completely incinerated the "bad guys", logic would hold that there was far more to burning down an entire forest by complete accident all because a stray stream of fire missed it's mark and hit a tree.

That never happens.

Completely _impossible._

_**Blasphemy.**_

Solena only shrugged, tossed her hair, and simply floated onwards, following the dirt path. She really cared, but the mere inconvenience was the least of her problems by now. She was far more worried about seeking help. For herself and her kingdom.

* * *

"Okay, so I was thinking that since the N-Z has that name, maybe we could call the other troops some other names," Dawdle started, with enough childish thought to counteract even Kirby. "Maybe the little cute magician could be...um...Magi. And the furry, insect thingies could be, like...Scruffla! Because...uh...I don't know." He really thought that name seemed fitting. "Oh, and maybe a cool name like "Juggernaut" could be for that one thing we fought earlier! Y'know, the big, buffed out thingy with the armor." The conversation may not be too awkward now because at least the fires have been put out, and it was nice to see the forest in a grey state rather than green. Because it's the perfect environment for naming enemies while not exactly looking at them.

Obviously.

"Look, Dawdle, we appreciate your input of creativity, but..." Brass cleared his throat, and pulled at an imaginary collar. Sure, everything seemed resolved, but now, he just wanted a breather.

While Dawdle only sighed in disappointment, he spotted a small little glint in the corner of his eye. He motioned for the others to wait while he went over investigate the somewhat sparkling object. After just a few seconds, he returned with several multicolored shards of...something. "This looks...pretty cool...and it might help us, right? I mean, yeah, it looks useless now, but anything that looks useless is most certainly useful in any kind of shape, way, or form!"

"He's talking about you," Daoh jeered over to Shaq, who only rolled his eyes to the doo.

"Gosh, I wish I could—wait." And with that, Dawdle scurried over to the nearest fern, took all of it's fronds, and crafted a somewhat make-shift, rundown, leafy satchel. He placed the shards in the satchel, and slung it over whatever shoulder that he may have. He smiled for the first time that day—actually, he _genuinely _smiled—having a sense of accomplishment.

The teammates snickered.

Solena only gushed out the most undignified squeal ever.

What is going on here.

"Omigosh, that gap is so _adorable!_"

That's what was wrong. "Oh. Oh, c'mon, guys! Gimme a break! How was I supposed to know I had a gap in my teeth? Don't go laughing at me!" He tried to come up with some excuse. "I just got this thing today!" He pointed to his mouth to clarify that.

Eh, he decided it was good enough.

"Oh gosh, I'm really sorry, shorty," gasped Daoh, with a gigantic tear in his eye. "You just have a gap that's bigger than the sky. I'm trying to be gentle here." After another break of laughter, he added "it's even bigger than Dedede..." That double insult was perhaps the smartest thing he said all morning.

"You could probably shove _Whispy _in there!"

"Or the Halberd."

"Or NOVA."

"Or—"

"Alright, shut up." Dawdle had to end this. "We need to just go on and move through the forest. It's pretty nice, and I don't want to waste another minute with...her." He finished the sentence in a hush as he peered at Solena, who was stupidly staring at a flitting brown leaf, fluttering in her face. "She's really nice, but I can't stick around with an alien, most likely made from hyper-thermal energy with the absolute potential to cause a super-explosion at will. The thought isn't as comfortable as getting eaten and sent to an alternate space pocket where I cease to exist in reality forever." With that, as well as an awkward laugh, Dawdle walked ahead, simply trying to enjoy whatever little peace this journey seemed to have given him.

The others seemed to understand, and, with a nod to each other (excluding Solena), the group decided to catch up with Dawdle,and gracefully—

Oh, wait. Solena.

After successfully grabbing her wing, Daoh, with a sizzling hand, dragged her to the rest of the group. He only sighed as he predicted even more moments like this, as well as many other conflicts that he doesn't seem to know of. Two people who might be even more of a freak show than him? Although it could be a positively glorious idea, he still had his doubts and thoughts. What harm could come from them anyways? He decided not to really think about the possibilities, because he has a feeling that it will not really happen on his watch.

But, in all philosophical truth and reason, he doesn't have a watch.

Nor does he need _to _watch, either.

* * *

**Oh. My. Grump. Ish. Ness.**

**I seriously need to do something about my updating.**

**I **_**just **_**got my very own computer, and I refuse to use my phone unless it's an absolute emergency. Like, oh my God, the screen is as long as my finger.**

_**MY FINGER.**_

**I simply can't come up with any excuse at all.**

**...**

**...better see if Dawdle's taking cash for his excuses.**

**Also, is this way of paragraphing okay?**


End file.
